Demand and Targeting of Kisan Credit Card Scheme in India

While overall economic growth in India has seen an accelerating pace in recent times, a slow agricultural growth has been recorded. Based on household level data from India Human Development Survey 2005 (IHDS), this paper provides systematic evidence on the demand for Kisan (Farmer) Credit Card Scheme (KCCS)-a scheme launched by government of India in 1998-99 to facilitate agricultural credit to farmers. Further, the paper attempts to examine the targeting accuracy of the scheme and model participation of rural households in KCCS. Based on our analysis, the paper recommends that better household targeting and implementation of land reform policies, investment in advocacy campaigns, periodic information drives, improvement in rural infrastructure and better monitoring are some of the major policy imperatives.